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Marines ground some HarriersFrom Staff and AP ReportsThe crash Thursday of a Yuma-based AV-8B Harrier, two weeks after a similar plane crashed in North Carolina, prompted the Marine Corps to ground the jets temporarily.Marine Corps Commandant Charles C. Krulak ordered the combat jets grounded Friday until a team of Navy and Marine air warfare experts determine whether the planes are sale to fly while investigations into the crashes are completed.Hie team is tasked to determine if there are failure similarities between the mishap aircraft, said Maj. Kurt Owermohle.Hie Harrier is a single-engine, singleseat jet built by McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace. Capable of hovering and vertical takeoff and landing, the plane can be armed with air-to-air missiles, cannon and bombs.Krulak’s order followed a crash Thursday near Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range in Niland, Calif., about 85 miles northwest of Yuma.The pilot, Capt. James C. Clark ejected safely. He is stationed at Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma with VMA-311.The Marines have 154 Harriers. About 70 of the planes equipped for daytime attack — as were the two that crashed — are covered by Krulak’s order.Hie aircraft are based at Cherry Point, N.C., and at MCAS Yuma. Yuma’s base , has four Harrier squadrons with 20 planes each when at full complement. Some are daytime and some night-attack craft.The Sun was unable to reach anyone Friday evening to find out how many Yuma-based jets are affected by the order.Thursday’s crash was the fourth Marine Harrier crash in six months. On Feb. 16, a Harrier crash near Cherry Point, N.C., killed Capt. Ronald C. Walkerwicx.The most recent incident involving aYuma-based Harrier occurred March 30, 1995, when a plane was slightly damaged during a hard landing at MCAS. The pilot was not injured.In addition, a Yuma-based Harrier crashed into a field near Roll in May 1993. And a Yuma Harrier crashed in December 1992 during a training exercise over the Chocolate Mountains. Neither pilot was seriously hurt.JiUt last weekend, a Harrier was a crowd pleaser at the annual airshow at MCAS, demonstrating the various capabilities of the aircraft.The night-attack craft are equipped with moving map displays and infrared gear to help pilots navigate in the dark. The daytime craft tend to use Rolls Royce 406 engines, the night craft Rolls Royce 408s.Staff writer Joyce Christie contributed to this report.
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Yuma Sun
Yuma, Arizona, US
Sat, Mar 02, 1996
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Yuma C.
AZ, USA 10 Aug 2023
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